The Arrowess
by BlackThornedHeart
Summary: Karalin had been sent to America by the British government to clean up the mess that the Walkers were making. Being the best in her squad and an even better commander made her the perfect candidate for the job. Now her and her team are on their own in a country that has threats from both the living and the dead.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1 The Commander and The Girl**_

Black clouds rolled across a restless sky thunder and lightning swirled around the restless forest as midnight blue eyes stared with a predatory gleam watching their pray silently waiting for it to grow closer. The growls and the shuffling of feet grew loader and closer and at the same instant that the first bolt of lightning ripped across the sky an arrow left the bow and hit the skull with a dull 'Thaw Whack', as the pray fell a woman came from the shadows of a large pine tree. She was about twenty-five with icy midnight blue eyes and black hair that was held back in an intricate french braid that ended at the small of her back. As she stared at the walker that was now dead at her feet she regarded it -almost like you would dog crap stuck to your shoe. Suddenly a young blond girl about twelve stumbled out of the under growth she was wearing a blue rainbow t-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of what seemed to be once white sneakers, clutching a small doll as if it would protect her from all the wrongs in the world. The girl began to stumble over her words, "W-who are you?" her voice was soft but thick at the same time almost as if she was trying to be strong but not doing a very good job.

"Hello little one-" The blue-eyed woman said in a sharp and thick British accent "what are you doing out here all alone? It's not safe with the deadins running these woods you could get hurt." As she spoke her voice grew soft and the predatory gleam left her eyes as if it hadn't been there to begin with.

"I-I got separated from the group we-" she took a breath to steady herself. "We were scavenging over by the highway but a herd of them came through I ran two of the walkers tried to chase me. Mr. Grimes came and lured them away though, he told me to back to the highway, but got chased now I don't know where it is." She replied her voice still shaking much to the blue-eyed girls' disappointment.

"I'm not going to hurt you little one my name is Karalin Alexandria Cross Ex-Black Operations Commander I was sent here to clear up the deadens, my friends call me Kara though." Her voice was tinged with sadness and her eyes gained a far-off look as if she was reliving bad memories.

 _ **KCPOV**_

 _I had just got back from a mission in Iran when my friend and second in command Cecelia -or Circe to most people- and my twin brother(who was also my Co-commander) Zero walked in and Circe picked up a katana from the table covered with the different weaponry I take with me on missions and began cleaning it her honey blond curls coming out of her bun and falling in front of her sky blue eyes, where Zero preferred to sit next to me and begin nursing a glass of bourbon._

 _"So, are you going to tell me what the oh so important mission that you had to do solo this time was?" Her normally soft voice came out sharp with a teasing edge. And with a giant grin on her face she put down the katana and picked up an intricately designed ninja star -that was both beautiful and deadly- it gleamed wickedly in the moon light._

 _"Well I was sent to take down some scientist, but I wanted to see what he was doing and let me tell you that is some crazy shit-" I took a moment to shake the image of the face of the little girl as she was eating her creator "- like zombie apocalypse shit!" I began to hyperventilate near the end, my voice became hysterical and thick with unshed tears. Suddenly Zero spoke up from beside me._

 _"Circe go get Alek and tell him to report here imminently for debriefing." His voice was smooth and composed the exact opposite of mine she gave him a sharp nod and dashed off to find my third in command as soon as she left I felt hot tears run down my face as a sob ripped its way up my throat. He turned and drew me into his arms I rested my head on his chest drawing comfort from my twin as he murmured the normal honey coated lies even if he didn't believe them himself. He knew I hated killing children and it did this to me every time had to kill one. As soon as my breathing became normal again he tilted my face up so that he could look in my eyes when we talked._

 _"Now what happened?" I abruptly turned from his gaze fearing what he would see in their depths._

 _"I killed a child Zero a child that ATE the scientist that I was sent to kill! And guess what?! They want to send us and our team into that hell pit of a country to decontaminate it! I'm scared Zero I can't let Circe, Alek, You, or the team die that way I won't! Yeah, we heal fast, yeah, we are hard to kill, yeah, we are immune to a lot of shit but when we agreed to become lab rats and soldiers' zombies weren't in the package! We had nothing to do with what happened to those people, it should not be our responsibility to clean it up!" By the time I was done with my rant I was breathing hard and my sadness was replaced with white hot fury._

 _"Kara, it may not be our responsibility, but people are dying, and we know how to handle this kind of stuff where normal soldiers don't, we can't leave those people to die." His voice and logic rang true and my anger vanished only to be replaced with guilt._

 _"Zero I'm sorr-" I began only to be interrupted by Alek bursting into the room looking as if demons from hell itself were chasing him only to see that nothing was wrong. "Alek tell the team to pack their bags we're heading to Georgia."_

 _"Understood Kara, do you feel alright?" For once his cocky smirk wasn't in place but a look a concern in its place._

 _"Yep, F.I.N.E. (Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional) " I replied with a smirk knowing he knew what I meant._

As Karalin came back to the real world the young girl stuck out her hand and spoke her voice still slightly shaking "N-Nice to meet you Ms. Kara, I'm Sophia" Karalin looked at the girl with pity though not a common emotion from the hardened commander as she saw herself in those teary blue depths.

"Now Sophie I'm not a miss call me Kara and I'll call you Sophie. Is that alright?" As she spoke a small smile lit up her face at the end though she forced herself to crush it.

"Oh yes Miss- I mean Kara, Mama will be so happy-"

"Whoa there little one I never said I wanted to meet your mum," Not wanting to hurt the girls' feelings she crouched down to her level and spoke softly "I don't mind talking you home but I'm not sticking around I have people I have to watch over." She told her softly but sternly the archers thoughts going back to the squadron she left camped out about a quarter of a mile away under the watchful eyes of her Co-Commander. She had promised them that she would be back before dark and the storm had begun to mess up her internal clock that the three years of being a Black Operations Commander had so perfectly tuned so she knew it (or better yet hoped) that they still had a couple hours of daylight. "Now let's go before you catch cold, okay?" Little Sophia looked at her almost she was a particularly hard riddle, with utter bewilderment that Kara had denied meeting her mother.

"Okay." Sophie's voice for the first time since Kara had met her was strong and filled with determination.

"Now the house is this way, the guys may be a little rough around the edges but they won't hurt you, as long as you don't attack us. So be good, because the boys may be harmless but the girls in the group are not to messed with not unless you have a death wish that is." Her voice was soft and filled with humor that was uncommon for the seasoned warrior.

"Okay." The young girls voice was nothing more than a fear filled whisper as she began to think of the unusual ways that this woman could harm her.

Kara began to think that she may have hurt the child's feelings she tried to think of ways to cheer her up and get her to think of the fact of walking in to a den of trained and seasoned assassins wasn't that bad. "But I think that they will like you ex-speciously my weapons officer Clarice she loves kids, so I think if anyone hurts you you'll be safe because she will kill them with no problems what so ever." This seemed to put the child at ease thinking that she would have someone she could talk too.

"Oh, is she nice? Is she pretty? Is she mean like you? Will she play dolls with me? Will she come with us to see my mom? How many people are in your group? Is your group going to join ours? Will I ever see you again?" She fired the questions so fast and so sudden that it caught Kara off guard, her eyes eager and excited to meet someone like her and wasn't as cold as the commander.

"Yes, I guess so? Now listen here I'm not mean I'm just…different." She was insulted that she had been called mean she wasn't trying to come off as mean she was horrified of what the sick scientists of America had created and then ran from after they set it loose on their own people, on innocent men women and children. But most of all she was scared of what it would to her and her team, who they would be when they returned… if they returned that is. "I think so, only if I take her off duty, twenty-two people, I don't think so and not to seem cruel but not likely." Her tone was soft but detached as if the words were coming from her lips, but she wasn't the one saying them. But Sophie didn't see that all she saw was that with every word she spoke she became less of a friend and more of the commander that people both loved and feared. She turned her back on the girl perfecting to stare into the woods and hide within herself. "Shall we get moving now?"

"Yes Ma'am" This time as she spoke it was less of an excited chirp and more of a defeated whisper as she looked at the woman who seemed to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. Quick as a flash Kara looked back to her and spoke as if she was no longer a twenty-four-year-old woman but a cold commander that would do anything to complete her objective.

"Good, I want to make it back to camp before dark and we have to check the perimeter before we can head back so we need to move quickly." Her voice was still detached like she didn't care what happened to her, like she was merely someone in the way of her objective but what Sophia didn't know was that to complete her objective Kara would have to kill her due to the virus in her bloodstream. And that went against her main rule 'Children are off limits' and every time she went against it she lost another piece of her humanity and in her opinion that was the most important thing a person could have in this world. Then she silently turned her back and walked into the shadows and the girl silently followed her into the darkness.

Karalin and Sophia hadn't spoken the entire walk back to the camp, Kara was lost in thought though Sophia had thought she was mad at her and was trying to figure out why. As they neared the camp Kara seemed to relax and become more youthful as soon as they reached the first row of tents Sophia saw that Kara had begun to walk less like a tired person but like the strong and calm commander that she was. As they neared the center of camp she saw that all of the soldiers had lined up and in front stood a man that reminded her of a superhero.

As Kara neared they all stood up straighter and spoke in synch "Good evening, Commander Cross." They had spoke with large smiles and mock salutes most of them then promptly dispersed to tend to their respective duties leaving only five people left.

Kara turned to the two in front who happened to be the large superhero that had light blond hair that seemed white and icy blue eyes that reminded the girl of a certain commander though his seemed warmer and full of laughter. Next to him stood a small cat like woman with blond hair and bright mischief filled blue green eyes. "This was your idea wasn't it?"

"Oh sister dear I am appalled that you would think I would do this to you, I am innocent. Innocent I tell you!" He said this with a large fake pout on his as the blond pretended to be wiping tears off her eyes.

"You wound me," She put a hand over her heart as if it actually hurt her "we would never do something so mean to you!" The blond said with more fake tears.

"Whatever, Clarice can Sophie stay with you in your tent, please?" Her words may have sounded to anyone else as a request but to her team they took it for what it was...an order.

A petite blond spoke from behind the other two, her voice the exact opposite of Kara's, Kara was strict and hid herself from everyone but a select few and Clarice seemed to be cheery and open with all. "Of course! I love kids! We can do each other's nails and hair. We can play dress up and do each other's make up! What do you think?" Her voice came out in a scarily cheery tone. And Sophie began to think that staying with Kara might to be best but before she could say anything she was dragged to the blonds' tent.

"Well Cee, Zero, Alek, Jason, I'm heading to bed I'll see you in the morning. Night!" Her tone screamed 'let me sleep or I will kill you!' But before they could reply she had disappeared into the confines of her tent. They slowly looked at one another it was strange for Kara to come back with someone or for her to come back in a bad mood even more to go to bed early she always stayed up late and woke up early. Her behavior put the four on high alert the commander was scared, and they knew it but there was something else that was bothering her something deeper that no one not even them knew about and it scared them.

As soon as Kara went into the tent she went to sleep, and the nightmare started.

 _It began as any other of her dreams she was with her team on the battle field fighting horde after horde of the undead her katanas hutting through the skulls of the enemy. Her body coated in the sticky and dark blood of those that she had slain, the pungent aroma burning her nose. Her muscles burning as she fought one enemy after another only for every one that she cut down three more took its place. Overwhelmed she desperately pushed forward seeking if anything to protect her team. She turned from her newest kill desperately searching for her comrades only to see that her and Zero were the last ones standing. She forced her way through the dead to be at her brothers' side, as she got to him they fell back to back as they fought. Soon the two of them became overwhelmed, just as the corpse was about to take a bite out of her Zero stabbed it with his long broad sword, with a smile he reached down to help her to her feet. As she gripped his hand allowing him to pull her to her feet she noticed one of the dead had noticed that their pray was distracted. Almost as if in slow motion she watched unmoving as it grabbed him and took a large bite out of his throat. He turned and choked out a single word as his bleeding and broken body met his death. Seeing as her brother, her sweet brave brother was ripped apart his screams for her to run etched in her brain. Being forced to see everyone she ever cared about be ripped apart and eaten by those things their screams tearing at her insides demanding that she do something but no matter how hard she fought she couldn't move. In an almost fog all of the dead faded until there was only a small group left, she tightened her grip on the dual katanas in her hand desperate to draw strength to the last piece of her brother she had left. Only to drop them to the ground as the first of the dead turned to meet her, she saw Circe. She quickly scanned the faces of the dead, each one was a fallen member of her team prompting for her to fall deeper and deeper into despair. This was her greatest fear, to be the last one standing or to be forced to kill her own team. She steeled herself and quickly reminded herself that these things were not her team, but a mockery of their bravery and dedication therefor it was her duty to make sure that their souls were granted passage to the underworld. With that she drew her daggers and met her comrades in battle for the last time. She paid little attention to who met her blades but cut through them all the same, until the last one standing was her brother. With a silent prayer she asked the gods to forgive her what she must do, she stabbed him in the temple. She stood over the body for only a moment before she fell to her knees and wept for the souls of the fallen, thoughts of how this was her fault as she was the leader therefor their deaths were her fault. She sat there and wept for what seemed like hours before she could hear what seemed to be footsteps coming towards her thinking it was another of the dead she simply sat there waiting for it to be over. After a few moments she opened her eyes only to be met with the laughing green eyes of her elder brother, "It's time to go home, little bird"._

She woke with a gasp the dream still etched in her brain haunting her like a bad ghost. "Kara, are you alright?" A loud but still whispering male voice spoke from the shadows broke the silence.

"Oh, Zero I didn't know you were in here, I'm fine. Did you…?" she trailed off before she could get herself to say it too afraid of what he would say.

"No, now go to sleep, I'll be right here to scare the nightmares away." his voice was teasing but still distinctly concerned.

"Promise?" For the first time since she got here her voice was weak and scared, almost childlike and it scared him seeing his strong stone like sister that way.

"Yes I promise, now go to sleep. Unless you want to talk about it?" His voice filled with concern and a bit of hope that she would share her burden with him.

"No, I'm fine big brother. Now would you mind getting in the bed I'm getting cold." Her voice filled with a teasing aura, a rare thing since they had been deployed to this hell hole to Zero though this was a sign that his sister was healing and would be back to her normal self soon. With a smile he crawled into the small bed and covered both of them with the large comforter allowing her to snuggle up to her brother. As she took a deep breath of his scent of sandalwood, sage, and something that was uniquely Zero she couldn't help but see him as he was in her dream. Shaking herself she forced herself to focus on the fact that her brother was with her alive and gods help who tries to take her big brother from her. With that she began to fade into a dreamless sleep to her brother humming 'Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas'


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 Seeking the Path**

Kara woke the next morning to the sound of far off bells, her eyes quickly evaluated her tent to see if Zero was still in there. Once she was satisfied that she was alone to her thoughts did she get out of bed and begin to prepare for the day. Her tent to many would reflect another person instead of the seemingly orderly officer, instead of being clean and organized her things seemed to appear as if a tornado came through. Her weapons and armor were the only things that had been spared from the chaos, as they were lined up spotlessly clean and ready for use. Her gaze lingered on her Sai, though difficult to use they had been the first weapon that she had ever mastered and had been a gift from her older half-brother. She remembered his eyes and words that had woke her from her terror from her dream, for a moment she began to wonder if he had stayed in Japan with her nephew or joined one of the many teams that had been sent to decontaminate the states. Before she knew it, she stood in front of the table that held her weapons, as she picked up the weapons and felt their comforting weight in her hands she remembered something that he had once told her during one of her many training sessions with him. "Do not draw your blade on those that are can be saved but strike down those that are irredeemable. Do not kill those that are not evil of their own volition, save all that you can… even if they sometimes do not wish to be saved at that moment. Always stand on the side of life and happiness, in the darkest moments help others see the light." As she stood there letting his words wash over her she felt a tear begin to roll down her cheek, she couldn't believe that she even thought that killing an innocent child would be something that was necessary.

"Kara, we need to begin looking for the girls group and", Alek paused seeing the position that he had found her in. He quickly crossed the room and drew her into his arms, her body shaking as she began to cry even harder. "Are you alright? We can go over everything at another time or have everyone go to Zero if they have any issues." She leaned into his chest as she thought about if it would be a promising idea to sit in her tent and cry all day, an image of Sofie came to mind instead. She couldn't do that to the girl, she said that she would find her family for her and she would it would be what he would want her to do.

"No, we should get started as soon as possible. I am the leader, I can't sit on the side and let Zero handle my duties." Her voice was strong and filled with determination, as she slowly extracted herself from his arms. "Gather the team leaders in the war tent along with our two guests. We will need to evaluate the terrain and determine anywhere that the girls group could have moved to." She looked at him in the eyes as she said the last words, and then turned to a nearby trunk that opened to reveal to be full of clothes.

"Yes, ma'am. Do you plan to bring the K9s as well? They could bring an advantage when it comes to finding the group."

"Not now Alek, this will all be discussed during the meeting. Now can you please get out, so I can get dressed? I can't do my job in my undies." At this point he realized just what she, or rather what she wasn't wearing.

"Nah, I'm quite enjoying the view." He knew this wasn't the right thing to say but it had been so long since he had been able to freely tease her without her blowing up and trying to kill him. This time had been no different, armed with her Sai she slowly began to walk towards him giving him a chance to escape through the tent flap behind him. Turning just as slowly he walked through the tent flap calling over his shoulder, "I didn't know you were a lase girl, I like the color too black sure is your color."

Face burning, she quickly went through her clothes looking for a set that would both work in this heat and allow her to blend in, five minutes later she finally found a set that would work. The outfit consisted of black polymerized leggings, a green camouflage tank top, and her black Kevlar weave trench coat, all this was wrapped up with her worn out black combat boots. Once she was done getting dressed did she don her weapons, first her bow and quiver were strapped to her back in the center along with her katanas in a large X shape, next were her daggers that were placed one in each boot, then her pistols though not used much they were apart of her weapons that she always carried they were placed on her thighs along with several extra magazines of ammunition, the last to go on were her Sai placed in an X formation below the katanas on her lower back. As she left the tent she grabbed the left-over weapons that laid on the table and quickly put them in their chosen spots, except a single knife. The knife was thin and almost as long as one of her own daggers the sheath was well worn leather and had not been used in some time, it was perfect for a beginner to learn on.

With that in mind she quickly left the tent, the brightness from the sun shocked her eyes for only a moment before she continued on her way to her destination. As she passed the different officers they muttered the normal greetings, a couple of them saluted though none seemed to wish to approach her. As she got closer to the tent she saw that Alek was standing by the door, he had likely been waiting for her to show up. Like her he was wearing his battle gear, the black bringing out the green in his eyes as well as the gold in his blond hair. "Oi Kara, you forgot to do your hair again." His voice was full of laughter as he quickly walked over to stand at her side.

"Shit, I knew I forgot something." Glowing bright red she felt like smacking herself, she forgot to do one of the simplest things that made her job so much easier.

"Stand still, I got it." He quickly yet gently began to comb through her hair with his fingers before putting it up in a bun, though messy it was a lot better than leaving it down as there were many ways that having hair in your face could get a person killed. "Shall we, my 'lady?" His voice a playful purr.

Laughing she couldn't help but play along, "Of course, my good sir." All traces of laughter and good humor faded as she entered the war tent, gone was the playful girl in her place stood the commander once more. She quickly scanned the room to make sure that all those that needed to be there were in attendance, only to come up short on one person. "Where is our other guest? As well as Clarice?"

The large man looked curious to learn that there was another guest in the camp other then him, "What ya talken about, sugar tits? Lil ol'Merle is right here." His attitude grated her nerves just as it had when they had first found the man on the side of the road passed out from blood loss.

"I was not talking to nor about you Mr. Dixon, we have another guest." Her voice was calm though it also had a hint of irritation as it always did when it came to the man that was Merle Dixon, though he was a good soldier (even with one arm) his attitude left a lot of room for improvement.

"We're here, sorry we're late Kar I was feeding Sophie before we left." Clarices voice was high and slightly out of breath but overall strong.

"That's fine, let us know next time though-" Sophia cut her off before the could finish with a loud yell.

"Mr. Dixon!" The girls voice was filled with joy, with that she could clearly tell that the two guests had come from the same group. The only issue was of course that if they had and they left Merle behind, what was to stop them from leaving her behind too? Kara kept this to herself though as she watched Sophie talk to the older man with a large smile on, overjoyed to see a familiar face.

"Now that the two of you have been reacquainted, we are going to split into out normal teams of five. Alpha team will be escorting the girl to the highway to see if her group is still there, Beta your job will be tracking with Mr. Dixon to see if there is anywhere else they would go, Gamma I want you on supplies find as much as possible and bring it back if you can't bring it back catalog it and we will go back at another time, and Delta you guys are on guard duty. I will be going on a solo scouting job to see if there is another spot close by that we could move to, you all know the drill watch out for one another and don't get killed. Dismissed." Through out her giving out assignments no one moved until she gave the order, even Merle had to admit this girl knew what she was doing, and it showed through the particular orders she gave. "Sophie come here for a moment," though the girl seemed scared she walked up to the woman wondering what she had needed "I wanted to give you this, this knife was my first training blade and was given to me by my commanding officer, so I am passing it to you." The girl took the blade as if it was glass and admired the way that it fit perfectly in her hand. "Its name is Stormbringer, it never failed me have faith in it and yourself and it won't fail you either. Now get moving, the team won't wait forever."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 Preparation for Madness**

The camp was buzzing with activity as everyone geared up for their particular orders, all the captains of each team were busy coming up with plans for their specific commands. The only team leader that was not involved in planning their teams' duty was the head of Alpha team, as you could guess Kara is the leader of Alpha team so with her choosing to do an independent mission the responsibility was left to Zero. Zero as second in command was quite used to her leaving him to handle things when it came to more pressing matters, but to go on a solo scouting mission? This set off warning bells in his head, it was not uncommon for her to go off on her own and thin out any near by dead but never to do scouting as they had a specific team that normally handled it. This meant that Kara was up to something, and he would bet his broadsword whatever it was had to do with the young guest that she had brought into camp last night. This meant that she was becoming like her old self once again, and with that came all the difficult and insane quirks that she had regarding those she saw as her allies. This made situations difficult as she tends to put herself in risky and dangerous positions just so that those she cared for made it out unharmed both emotionally and physically. He watched her leaving her tent with her beat up standard issue military pack, this meant that the task that she chose for herself was not a day trip as it had been set out for the others. He only hoped that she kept to the rules and took her walkie, as in a place like this it was both protocol and often the difference between life and death.

Kara had a plan, though unable to deny that it was risky she continued to pack for the journey of tracking down the girls group herself. This was not the first solo job that she took on, nor would it be the last she hoped. Doing things on her own made it so that she was responsible for all of her own actions and the wrong doings that went along with it. Being the leader of a group in her eyes made you personally liable for any actions or wrongs that her people may commit, as well as being responsible for the death of any of the group members. This often weighed on her mind in the nights, every choice that she made she rethought and evaluated hoping that if the gods were watching over her that they would have compassion and let her send no more to die. This had been her silent wish for as long as she had been in charge, though compared to many she was lucky as she had only lost five team members that doesn't mean that their deaths did not weigh on her heart and mind as all of their bodies had been unable to recovered. The bodies being unrecovered meant that as according to their religion they would be unable to enter the gates of the underworld and be forced to wander for all time unless the proper burial rights were given to them. Though hard to do in a world like this, she hoped that someday they would be granted entrance and see their loved ones on the other side once more. As she the packed last of her gear and put on her pack she began to think about her own family, though she had her brother and her team with her a small part of her still yearned for her father. The last time she had seen him had been three years ago when she had left for her deployment, part of her hoped that he survived this mess as he and the rest of her family lived in her home town in Arizona. She quickly reminded herself that her job was to find the girls family and make sure that the girl would be safe with them, not to despair over the chance that her family didn't make it. She forced herself to hold on to the shred of hope that she had, it was all she could do it was the same thing she always did as she told herself many times there is no reason to accept the death of someone if there is a chance no mater how small that they could live. She quickly finished packing everything from her walkie to an extra weeks' worth of MRE's and water, this was tendered for everybody when they were sent on a mission though she took it a step further and brought a bit of rope as well so if she had to sleep in a tree to keep away from the dead she could do so with out risk of falling out and becoming dinner. As a means of splurging she also brought along her iPod and charger, she also brought her satellite phone and its charger. Both of the chargers had two settings, the normal plugin means and the solar means. This allowed her to have use of both no mater if she had electricity or not, this came in handy if she got separated from the group or needed to get ahold of high command. With everything packed she quickly left her tent and made her way to the woods, the scent of nature strangely comforted her and allowed her to get her mind to clear and ready for the hunt. Though against protocol and just generally not normally a clever idea she put one of her earbuds in and allowed the soothing base and lyrics of Believer by Imagine Dragons, her music helped her forget all that was riding on her and the repercussions that she would face if anyone other then her team found out just what she was planning. With that she unsheathed her katanas, and faded into the expanses of the forest that laid before her as the last of her faded from the view of her team and loved ones an ominous yet faint sound of an gun shot echoed through the area.

 _ **(A/N) I know it is late but you will be getting the normal chapter on Sun as well so it will not mean waiting another week for an update and I will try to update more then once a week if I have the time.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 Dancing in the Shadows**

The wild can bring out a new side of a person, whether that side is a purer reflection of who the person is on the inside can be debated. For Kara though it brought out a side that was the closest thing many could say was her true self, this side was also brought out every time she entered a battlefield for her there was a sense of peace that washed over her when she was in the center of complete chaos. At this moment she sat in a tree over looking a small house that she had found and had slept in last night, as well as where she had managed to find some meager scraps such as the sardines that she had for dinner last night. For now, she chose to sit in her tree there wasn't much she could do to find the group without first choosing a direction to look. To the extent of her knowledge there was only a select few places that would be able to hold a large group such as the on that she was from, one of such places was only around a mile and a half away. The farm would be a wise choice as the records showed that it was nearly completely self sufficient from the well to the amount of live stock that could have possibly survived thus far. She had spent two days on this quest and checked at least half a dozen places and came up with practically nothing, the teams that she sent out were still working on their assignments as well. Alpha was still working their way through the highway as there was quite a bit of ground to cover, Beta reported the possible locations that she had thus far looked through as well as the one that she had chosen to search for today, Delta and Gamma were switching off scavenging and guarding the compound. Doing this independently made it so that she was seen as less of a threat this also came into an advantage so that if she managed to find the group she would be able to spy on them without too much trouble. She assumed that the group would still be looking for the girl, so she began to plan out the perfect way to gain entrance into the group to observe them from up-close and personal. As she continued to think about the unusual ways to gain access to the group she noticed that the area around her had gone silent, thinking it was another of the dead she jumped down and drew her katanas and looked around for her pray. Looking around she put her back to the entrance of the house only to feel a sharp stab in the middle of her back and hear a gruff voice, "Who are you? And where is Sophia?" This startled her as she should have seen him, but at the same time it gave her a bit of relief as he knew the girls name therefore he was a part of the group.

"I'm Kara Cross, and I have no idea who you are talking about I am simply a traveler on my own." She replied her voice smooth as silk, she didn't wish to lie to them, but she wasn't going to send the girl somewhere that she wasn't going to be protected.

"Don't lie to me, your footprints were all around her. Now, where is he?" She could tell that he was getting angry with her but another part of her simply did not care.

"Ah, so you think I have the girl because I was around her at some point? That is completely illogical. Yes, I saw the child, but I don't know where she is. We got separated a couple days ago." Though technically true she knew that these were not the answers that he was looking for. "She isn't alone though so she is safe, when we were separated she ended up with my brother.

'Where did he take her?"

"No clue, I told you we were separated." She needed to think of something fast so that he would take her back to the group, knowing that it was a long shot she walked towards her bag.

"What do you think you are doing?" His voice had a hard edge, though not nearly hard enough to make her fear him.

"I'm getting you something she dropped when we got separated," she dug around in her bag for a minute before pulling out the doll, though covered in dirt and grime it was still special to the young child. "I had planned to find her mother and get her back to her, but some stuff happened and now it is a matter of them finding me or me finding them."

"Give that to me." He stepped toward her and stabbed the crossbow into her back again then reached around her and grabbed the doll from her hands.

"How about not?" She said turning around and taking the doll from him, this was entrusted to me and I will be damned if I let you take it from me. She quickly scanned him from head to toe noting his stance as well as his weapons. Sighing to herself she decided that she was going to try to make a deal with him and then analyze the group for a brief time before calling the others, the girl needed to be returned to her family. "How about this I go with you back to the girls' mom and tell her what I know, and in exchange you escort me and can make sure I don't get up to no good. Sound good?"

"Like hell! You could be lying for all I know, and how about I just make you talk?" She knew that he was trying to intimidate her but in a way it more reminded her of a dog, and not a Chihuahua like Merle but more of a dog that had been beaten and had originally been kind but now needed to appear mean as to not be harmed again.

"Then I can't help you, ta!" With that she turned and began to walk off knowing that the likelihood of him letting her walk away was quite low, the only two ways that she could see it going is him calling her back and fallowing through with the deal or him letting her walk off and loose the chance to find the girl. As she put away her blades to then bend over and grab her pack she felt a flash of pain before blackness obscured her vision and she greeted the blackness of unconsciousness.


End file.
